Reviews by Chullicken

If you have mild winters this is a good product with its ability to be hung or set, cleaning is easy and its affordable. If you live in colder climates this thing can't be used in the winter or it can be with a supplemental heating element. Colder climates I find myself having to get the ice out of water containers and this one is a doozer.

They do well in a run, pastured or free ranged with great egg laying ability all year round. Easily cared for and very undemanding though they are known to be aggressive with other flock mates. Well worth trying them out and come in two varieties, Commerical and Heritage.

It's easy and accessible, but, you can make one yourself probably for free with some ingenuity.

Used a regular fountain waterer and didn't like it, constantly needed cleaning so I switched over to nipples. My flock didn't fully embrace nipple watering systems and I had to give them emergency water several times during hot days. I tried the cups and had much greater success. They learned quick, setup is easy with multiple applications at an affordable price. Can but DIY installed within minutes with a drill and some plumbing thread tape into a watering pvc system or simply a bucket.

Its a great intro product for your flock, but you'll need to make special arrangements for it in a coop or run. It's fairly durable if used gently, the price in my area seems a bit steep for something plastic. My flock loved to perch on these and poop in their food/water so it need to be checked and cleaned at least once daily if not more. I'd go with a hanging waterer/feeder instead of one of these.

Raising chicks they're pretty good. One will find themselves having to make arrangements using these within brooders/coops as they are very, very easy to tip over. Summers are fine, winter you may as well just smash them and get it over with as every one I've ever had has cracked from the cold.

If you want an interesting, out of the main stream fowl type as they are not a breed and never will be, more accurately a 'Landrace'. One that you won't ever know until they grow up what color they will be, great historical fowl with plenty of personality who are known to be great brooders..this is the bird for you. Very medium frame. Do great free ranging and willingly breed on their own for a steady flow of cute chicks that change colors several times until maturity. A very big bonus to these is the Landrace philosophy as they are not breed for type, but rather for temperament, alertness, broodiness and general character which is great. My Icelandic rooster is the best one I've ever had with an amazing rose comb to boot.
The community has a strong, knowledgeable base with very high standards almost to the point of being an elitist mentality. Worth a try though and guaranteed an interesting conversation with you fellow enthusiast.

They are striking, have a very discerning glance to them and seem to do well in the cold weather. Not the best foragers in my experience and they waste more food than my other breeds. The few I have had are 'tame', but not very approachable. Seem to do well in confinement and get along with their flock mates. Australorp breeders seem to be enthusiastic about their flocks, however very sensitive. These are not high volume production birds, but over all do have a certain charm about them that makes them definitely worth trying once.

Cheap, easy and readily available. The do confinement very well and do pretty good in the colder months of the year. Personalities are unique to the individual, fun to have around. However, they can on occasions be overly aggressive with flock mates to the point my rooster got involved and hushed them around a bit. If I was to do it over again, I think I would go with a different breed/type of chicken for my hobby.